


Day

by pipsiev2



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Attempt at Humor, Attempt at angst, Gen, Mentions of Injuries, Minor Violence, Supernatural Elements, ateez wooyoung is mentioned a lot but never actually shows, erics also here for .5 seconds, everyones like 4 years older but thats not really mentioned a lot, feel free to read the jeongin and minho as romantic if youd like, felix has cats, theres a boba shop for like 2.5 scenes, theyre in college but it doesnt get mentioned that often
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 14:18:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipsiev2/pseuds/pipsiev2
Summary: It’s as clear as when the night turns to day, as clear as glasses he wears every day. Jeongin can’t do this anymore.





	Day

**Author's Note:**

> there's like 1(one) scene of violence that's horribly written and is also obvious to spot? The way that I cut up the scenes is basically the beginning and end of it o:
> 
> got inspired to write this while listening to chronosaurus and it turned into this mess oof

It’s as clear as when the night turns to day, as clear as glasses he wears every day. Jeongin can’t do this anymore.

This wasn’t meant for him, this life, this job, this passion. To be a hero is so much work, so much time and devotion dedicated to the public that criticize him with watchful eyes, who find the worst in everything he does. He’ll try his best, he’ll risk his life, but sometimes that isn’t enough. Sometimes he fails anyway, body still intact and his reputation damaged, along with his heart.

Jeongin had a good run, but he’s just not cut out for being a hero, is too soft and young to keep working this taxing job. Chan doesn’t blame him, he knows, and neither do any of the others. They’ve had the same thoughts, after all.

To be a hero is something much more than the costume he wears on a regular basis, is more than being known by the public, is more than risking your all for others. To be a hero is something that you have to be ready for, is something that brings you joy and fulfillment and relief. It’s something to strive towards, something that means that you _help_ people.

In that sense, Jisung’s said, Jeongin is a hero. He’s someone to be looked up to and admired, is someone that’s a relief to have close by. It doesn’t feel that way, not really, especially now that Jeongin’s retiring, but Jisung insists.

Looking up at the building that he’s spent the past five years in, at the building that holds his childhood and friends, Jeongin doesn’t feel like a hero. He feels empty, like he just lost the most important thing in his life, and he doesn’t know if he’s ever going to get it back. He wonders if this was the right decision.

Tearing his eyes away, Jeongin leaves.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

“Have you heard?” Is how Hyunjin starts the conversation, how they greet the table when they arrive. “CB97 said that I.N’s taking a leave due to personal issues on the news today, and no one knows if I.N’s ever coming back.”

Minho, who’s standing right behind Hyunjin, rolls his eyes. “All CB said was that he’ll keep in touch with I.N, but he’s _most likely_ not coming back. Why’d you have to phrase it like I.N just up and left without a word?” He sounds annoyed, which isn’t unlike him, except he’s never seemed to care much about heroes before, usually being the one who steers the conversation _away_ from heroes.

Jeongin, who has been silently eating his sandwich the entire time, watching the event in front of him unfold, feels a pang in his chest. Do the people feel like he’s betraying them? Do they feel like he’s abandoned them for nothing? _Is_ he abandoning them for nothing? Even Minho—who hates the concept of heroes, who hates hates _hates_ anything and everything that has to do with them—is invested in this, and Jeongin can’t help but feel like it’s all his fault.

Jeongin feels a hand on his knee, and looks up to see Jisung giving him a reassuring look before he turns to Hyunjin. “Did CB say anything else?” He glances at Jeongin.

Chan’s not usually known for being on the news—none of them are, really. It’s sort of an underground thing, possible only because of Changbin and a shared childhood dream of being a superhero, of using the odd mix of genetics they all seem to have to their advantage. There’s not really any recognition to gain from that, so they don’t. Being on the news on purpose? Not really their forte, either.

Minho’s the one who shakes his head, a frown gracing his lips in a way that makes Jeongin need to force himself to maintain his neutral expression. “Of course not. You think the leader of a vigilante group is going to reveal more than necessary? He probably only made the announcement because people were worried about the kid after he got shot.” He sounds almost _angry_ , now, and Jeongin can feel Jisung’s fingers twitch on his knee.

It feels wrong, when Jeongin lets some half-formed excuse fall from his lips, already preparing himself to bolt from the scene as soon as possible.

Jisung shoots him a concerned look.

Jeongin leaves anyway.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

“I miss you,” Changbin’s voice comes crackling through Jeongin’s phone without warning, and he’d be _terrified_ if this wasn’t a common occurrence. “I know you don’t want to be a hero anymore, but don’t be a stranger, either.”

Changbin isn’t looking at him, probably, since he’s still kind of wonky with cameras, but Jeongin rolls his eyes anyway. “Since when have I ever been a stranger? I’ve just been busy catching up on the schoolwork I missed during the two days I was gone.” It’s not a lie, technically, because he _is_ trying to catch up on his schoolwork from when he was in the hospital, but there’s also the underlying factor of _do they want me there anymore_ that stops him. Changbin, being Changbin, probably already knows that.

“I’ll make sure to tell the television that, then.” Changbin sounds relaxed. “The building misses you too, you know? Everyone but Jisung and our informant does, really.”

Jeongin, having never met the informant, hisses out an amused “The informant knows who I am? Now, that’s just unfair.” From what he’s heard from Changbin, the only one who knows who the informant is, the informant’s a _douchebag_ in the most literal sense, and Jeongin can’t imagine them missing _anyone_ , nevertheless Jeongin.

That doesn’t stop him from being taken aback when Changbin says “He goes to your college, I’d sure _hope_ he knows who you are.” He follows that up with “He likes his anonymity, though, so good luck trying to guess who he is,” and Jeongin’s only slightly bitter about it.

Hours later, in the comfort of his own bed, Jeongin’s still thinking about what Changbin said, about how the building misses him, about how the informant goes to his school. It’s too much for one night, too much for any time at all, really, because it’s been _years_ but Jeongin’s still not over the fact that Changbin’s home, the place that’s been _Jeongin’s_ second home, is basically a glorified puppy.

Jeongin tries to sleep that night with thoughts of how disappointed everyone (and every _thing_ ) must be with him running through his mind.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

Jeongin doesn’t expect to see Seungmin any time soon, doesn’t expect him to be seen at all, really. After all, Hyunjin’s obsessed with the new information about the hero group (“vigilante group,” Minho would scoff, “they’re technicality vigilantes. Now let me eat my food in peace”), and Seungmin’s always been the one to enable them.

“I don’t suppose you have more information about what happened to I.N than I do, do you?” Seungmin sounds tired as he speaks, his syllables slightly slurred, and Jeongin can’t help but wonder what exactly he’s planning on writing.

“Don’t mention _them_ on the holy land,” Minho hisses, glaring. “This is a place for the lord and for worship.”

“This is a college.”

Jeongin nods. “Truly a place for worshipping JYP,” he says, earning a high five from Minho. As much as he loves Seungmin, Jeongin doesn’t really feel like talking in third person today.

Minho gestures to Jeongin. “See? The majority of us are in agreement. Besides, Hyunjin isn’t even here, and aren’t they the one you need to run your information through in the first place?”

Seungmin groans, slumping into his hands. “It’s useless. Hyunjin doesn’t have a clue about why I.N would just up and retire, either, other than the fact that they were severely injured.”

It’s silent for a moment. “Hey,” Minho says, unusually serious, “you know they’re not gone, right? They didn’t retire, at least not completely, or else CB would’ve told the public. I don’t think they’d just give false hope for no reason. Stop thinking of whatever story you’re trying to write as a road to _retirement_ and more as a circumstantial thing. Maybe I.N’s a student who got injured and decided to focus more on their studies? Maybe they need time to recover—after all, they _did_ get shot. This isn’t a factual story you’re trying to write, so stop acting like it.”

“Wow,” Seungmin gasps, “you must’ve really exhausted your capacity for speaking about heroes with that rant.” He gets swatted at. “How do you even know so much, when you hate them?”

Minho rolls his eyes. “Hyunjin straight up told me the kid got shot right after it happened, how else?”

Jeongin notes how Minho didn’t disagree, didn’t correct the assumption that he hates heroes.

It hurts more than Jeongin wants to acknowledge, so he doesn’t acknowledge it at all.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

_“Breaking news!”_ Jeongin turns toward the waiting room’s TV. _“There’s a hostage situation occurring at the local bank.”_

He’s staring at the TV, can feel himself tense up and prepare to bolt out of the hospital, bolt to where the danger is. Jeongin’s body feels on fire, feels like he has too much energy running through his veins that he needs to _release_. He feels a need to _be there_ , to stop what’s happening.

Before Jeongin can do any of that, Chan grabs his shoulder gently, his other hand on Jeongin’s jaw, slowly turning him to face Chan. “It’s okay,” Chan says lightly, “you don’t have to deal with that.”

“But-“

“You’re still hurt.” Jeongin flinches when the words leave Chan’s mouth. “Going out will do you no good, you know. Besides, apparently the news stations are a bit behind on the news, because Jisung’s been there for the past couple of minutes. Changbin’s informat buddy saw suspicious people by the bank earlier, thought that they saw a gun on one of them, so they immediately told him. He’s there with one of Changbin’s other friends, Wooyoung.”

The thought of Jisung being anywhere near a gun makes him freeze up, but he forces himself to relax as much as possible. It’s part of the job, he knows. Being a hero is dangerous, it involves so many risks that he doesn’t know if he can take anymore. _Jisung_ , though, doesn’t hesitate to take those risks, and neither does Chan or Changbin or any of Changbin’s friends.

Jeongin takes a deep breath and grabs both of Chan’s hands, moving them so that he can hold them, placing his head on Chan’s shoulder. Chan rubs gently circles into the back of Jeongin’s hands, and he’s grateful.

“Want to listen to some music?” Chan whispers. “It shouldn’t be too long until Jimin can see you, but it might help a bit.”

“Yeah,” Jeongin nods, “I’d like that.”

➴➷➴➷➴➷

It’s not often that Jeongin’s left alone with Minho, funnily enough.

Despite the two of them being in the same social circles in college, meeting up with the same people at lunch every day, it’s like there’s some unspoken rule that they shouldn’t be close, that they shouldn’t even be _near_ each other.

So, considering all of that and more, it comes as a shock to Jeongin when he receives a text with a simple _wanna meet up?_ followed up by _it’s your lovely minho btw._ Vaguely, Jeongin wonders which one of his friends gave Minho his number, but he doesn’t dwell on that for too long, already knowing that there’s no point in finding out. After all, there’s too many mutual acquaintances for him to find out, anyway.

It takes two hours and a boring calculus lecture until Jeongin finds himself at the boba tea shop that Minho had asked to meet up at, waiting for him to show up. Jeongin’s never been here before, strangely enough, and he hadn’t even realized that it existed before Minho brought it up, despite how glaringly obvious it had been afterwards.

“You’re glowing,” is how Minho greets him, his signature grin plastered onto his face. “Like, literally. It looks like the light is reflecting off of your skin right now, and you’re not even that pale.”

Jeongin shrugs, not really having an answer for that. “My skin just does that,” he says, and it’s true. Banshees can become transparent, not invisible, and humans do nothing out of the ordinary, so there really isn’t anything in his genetics that could cause his skin to reflect light. Chan disagrees, says that Jeongin probably isn’t as human as he thinks he is, but he ignores that. “Only really happens with artificial light, as far as I know, which is kind of strange, but there isn’t really anything I can do about it.”

“Understandable,” Minho responds, sitting down across from Jeongin. It’s not, really, but Jeongin’s not about to argue.

Jeongin flinches when a cat jumps into Minho’s lap, purring and nudging its head against a smiling Minho’s hands, and Jeongin can’t help but wonder how the cat even got inside the shop in the first place. Surely he would’ve noticed the cat while he was waiting, right?

Soon enough two more cats have come and flicked around Minho, who’s been encouraging Jeongin to pet them to little success.

“I don’t see why you won’t,” Minho says with a pout, the cats curling around him in a way that Jeongin wouldn’t even be able to pet them unless he stood up and moved next to him. “These babies are so precious.”

Looking around, Jeongin doesn’t see any other cats, which prompts him to ask “Is this supposed to be a cat cafe?” That’s the only logical reasoning that he can think of, but it seems less and less plausible with each second that passes.

“No,” Minho’s voice has a happy lilt, his mouth curling into a soft smile as he looks into his lap. “They belong to the owner’s son, who I happen to be friends with. They’re allowed to wander the shop as long as he’s here.” Minho gestures to a blonde, freckled guy sitting a few tables down.

He doesn’t look familiar, Jeongin notes, and he feels like that should be strange. If this person’s friends with Minho, doesn’t it make sense that Jeongin would’ve met him before, even if he doesn’t know the elder that well? “That’s nice,” is what he ends up saying.

Minho looks at him, smile no longer there. “Yeah, it is,” his words sound stilted, and Jeongin’s a little bit worried. “Hey, off topic, but can I ask something that’s kind of personal? I won’t mind if you say no or anything, I’m just curious.”

Jeongin shrugs. “Go for it,” he says. It’s not like Minho’s going to ask something that Jisung or Hyunjin wouldn’t tell him in a heartbeat, anyway.

“So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this place is sort of hard to find, yeah?” Jeongin nods, not really knowing where this is going. “Well, with the exception of myself, no one without supernatural blood should be able to find this place.” He’s looking Jeongin dead in the eyes. “You’re I.N, right? I won’t tell anybody, and originally I wasn’t going to bring it up at all, but Changbin thought that it would be a good idea.”

Jeongin doesn’t know what to say, and it turns out he doesn’t have to. “I’m still not convinced that you aren’t a witch or something. Is there a species that can communicate with animals other than fae and fairies?” The freckled guy from earlier says. “Wait, can you talk to animals? Probably, right?”

“Wait,” Jeongin cuts off whatever Minho’s reply was going to be, “you know Changbin? You know I’m I.N? I thought you hated heroes? You’re always changing the conversation whenever we get mentioned?” He feels like his mind’s running in five different directions.

“First of all, I’m pretty sure I’ve said that animal isn’t a language I can learn,” Minho glares at Freckled Boy, “and second of all, I _don’t_ like vigilantes. They’re always getting hurt in some way or another, and the fact that you were in the hospital—not even the _human_ hospital—for _days_ before you temporarily somewhat resigned did nothing to prove me wrong. It’s dangerous as fuck and the fact that it’s a necessity is disgusting.”

Freckled Boy, who has seemingly given up on whatever he was doing, nods as he moves over to their table. “I don’t know much about the hero industry and all that, since I sort of just stay here all day, but you look like you’re about my age. If what Minho’s saying is true, you’re basically a twenty-something year old that probably needed to juggle hero work on top of schoolwork. Not really a good combination, if you ask me.”

Jeongin stares at him. “If you’re going to be in this conversation,” Jeongin starts off as one of the cats climbs into Freckled Boy’s lap, “please give your name, at least. And maybe also explain what Minho meant when he said that only people who are supernatural can find this place, because I definitely couldn’t and he obviously did.”

“If you couldn’t find this place then you wouldn’t be in here,” Minho says, and Jeongin glares. “And I could only find this place because the cats led me here.”

Freckled Boy leans forward, so close that he’s almost invading Jeongin’s personal space. “See, Minho _says_ that he’s not supernatural, but I’ve never seen him with a person or animal and _not_ understand what they’re saying. Think about it, _really_ think about it. Why do you think Minho takes so many language classes? It’s because he _understands_ but he can’t communicate.”

Jeongin nods. “Great. Nice to know. Can I _please_ have your name, though?”

“You just think I can understand animals because they like me, Felix,” Minho says, rolling his eyes, and Jeongin would’ve been upset had Minho not inadvertently answered the question that he’s been asking for the past couple of minutes. He’d like his _other_ questions answered, too, since that’s the more pressing one that contains personal and private information, but, from how things are going so far, he doesn’t see that happening for at least another year.

Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t _have_ another year, not until his next class, at least. “How do you know I’m I.N?” Jeongin asks again, already making sure that he has everything he needs because Professor Im may like him, but that’s not going to stop him from getting scolded if he’s late.

“The same way I know everything,” Minho shrugs, and Jeongin has half a mind to screech at him—just a little bit to give him a mild headache—before grabbing his bag and bolting out of the boba shop.

The next day Jeongin doesn’t show up to lunch.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

There’s a lot of reasons why Jeongin’s never really felt like a hero.

He’s young, just barely 21, for starters. A barely-functioning college student with too much work and not enough time on a _good day_ , with poor time management skills and a lack of motivation to do anything but sleep. Sure, Jeongin _likes_ helping people, likes being able to know that even random bystanders are _safe_ because of him and Jisung and Chan and Changbin and everyone else, safe because of people like Changbin’s informant friend and Wooyoung. There’s nothing _not_ to like about that, in all honesty, but it gets so _exhausting_. It gets tiring to the point where Jeongin doesn’t think he can take care of himself by the end of the day, where he’d rather sleep than do anything else.

Heroes aren’t supposed to get exhausted. They aren’t supposed to have these doubts that keep constantly swimming through Jeongin’s head, aren’t supposed to feel relieved when the day turns to night and they finally get to _relax_ , because different heroes work at different times, and Jeongin’s never met anyone that Changbin works with who takes the night shift, doesn’t really know many of Changbin’s friends at all, but the ones he knows who work during the day don’t feel as _ecstatic_ by the prospect of going home, of having the day end.

Jeongin isn’t Chan or Jisung, he can’t just use his powers without repercussion. What kind of hero has a cap on how much they can use their powers? If Jeongin screams too much his mouth bleeds, throat raw and hurting. Going transparent for long periods of time makes him susceptible to large headaches that Chan only has to deal with on a bad day, and Jisung doesn’t have to deal with at all.

“This really feels like you’re avoiding us,” Changbin’s voice crackles through his head, and Jeongin’s surprised he hasn’t gotten a call about it yet, because he _has_. What kind of hero _avoids people_? What kind of hero _doesn’t talk to their friends_? He hasn’t seen Jisung in _days_ , and that’s the longest he’s been without Jisung in _years_.

Jeongin doesn’t think he’s ever been cut out to be a hero, in all honesty. All thinking about it is doing is help confirm his biggest fears.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

Jisung gets surprised when Jeongin shows up to lunch for the first time since the Minho situation, an indignant “where’ve you been for the past week!” falling from his lips, a pout on his face that makes Jeongin laugh.

“Busy,” he says with a shrug, “and preoccupied. Plus, I actually wasn’t here twice last week because I was getting the injury checked. Jimin said I could take off the bandages because of the healing she’s been doing, but wanted me to stay a night so that Jae could also work _his_ magic, you know?”

Jisung nods. “Binnie’s told me about them. Said something about them needing to “save my ass” if I ever do something that my “near immortal soul eating squirrel brain” can’t handle.” He rolls his eyes. “I’m, like, not even part squirrel though?”

Jeongin smiles. “You look like you could be.”

Jisung opens his mouth, probably to argue, but before he can Hyunjin and Seungmin are screaming at them in the distance. They both turn to look at them, and Jeongin notes a glowering Minho behind of them.

“We did it!” Hyunjin looks happy when they shout, a smile across their face. Seungmin looks a bit calmer, but there’s still a more calming energy around him, almost subdued. Quickly, Hyunjin rushes over and throws a small stack of papers onto the table. “We finished the I.N article!”

“This is nothing but guilt trip material,” Minho hisses. “I _told_ you not to write this as though I.N just up and left without a word. I _told_ you that I.N probably had other reasons why they had to take a break. I specifically said _not to_ write as though he permanently retired. You literally did the _exact opposite_ of what I said.” Before Jisung or Jeongin can grab the papers, Minho snaches it off the table.

Jeongin freezes when Minho looks at the table and meets his eyes, but then Minho’s gaze softens and he turns back towards Seungmin. “Let me write your stupid article, since you obviously can’t.” He glances back at Jeongin. “I’ll actually be respectful about it, too.”

Vaguely, he can feel Jisung grab his hand, can hear Hyunjin and Seungmin arguing with Minho, but his mind’s too stuck on what Minho just said. The man who hates heroes, who calls heroes vigilantes (which they _are_ , they _are_ vigilantes. No police force is organizing them, no government knows their whereabouts. They’re all just a bunch of kids trying to help people), is writing an article about him.

“Jeongin!” His eyes snap to Seungmin. “Do you think Minho could write a better article than me?”

Jeongin nods. “Never doubt the abilities of Lee Minho,” he says, smiling. Jisung raises an eyebrow at him, but he ignores it.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

The next time Jeongin finds himself at gunpoint, it’s an accident, and he’s not in his hero costume.

“Any of you move,” the person shoves the metal against Jeongin’s head, “the kid gets it.”

His mind is in overdrive right now, trying to find a way to get everyone out of here safely, except he _can’t move_. If he does he’s done for, and if he’s dead then something might happen to the civilians before the others can come.

Just as suddenly as the guns were pulled out, all the lights turn off. Jeongin thanks Changbin as the gun moves away from his head slightly, the darkness of the room allowing enough leeway for Jeongin to grab the person’s wrist, twisting it until he can hear the clatter of the gun on the floor, and moving so that he’s holding the person’s arm behind their back. He elbows their neck and feels the person drop.

Jeongin moves to face the rest of the theifs, and is hit with a wave of relief when he sees that they’re all confused, one of them looking like they’re about to pass out. It looks like none of them have any powers, at least none that can help them in this situation.

One of the perks of being half banshee, Jeongin thinks, is that he can see in the dark. Maybe these idiots shouldn’t have tried to attempt to rob the bank (for the second time this month!) at night, when it’s already dark and the only thing still open are the ATM machines in front.

Jeongin glances towards the civilians. Thinks, _how many of them saw my face? They’re safe enough away so that, if I screamed, none of them would be hurt. Should I do it?_ Thinks, _if I do something, then they may think that I.N’s back. Am I ready for that?_

Before he can do anything, though, he hears the cover of the air vent fall, and Jeongin looks to see a fox jump down, followed by the one and only CB97. Jeongin sighs, if only to let Chan know where he is, and shrugs when Jisung looks at him. He doesn’t even know if Chan even heard him, though, because the thieves are whisper-screaming at each other and are significantly closer to him than Jeongin is.

Jisung can see in the dark, with his shapeshifting abilities and near imortalness, but Chan’s practically blind right now, even though he can hear where they are.

But that’s not the main problem right now, because Jeongin can see the thieves look in Jisung’s direction, even without knowing exactly what they’re looking at. After all, it never takes much for kumiho’s to attract attention, and Jisung happens to be half of one.

“Hey CB,” Jeongin says under his breath, making sure that he’s not loud enough for anyone else to hear, “there’s four of them, and I think a fifth snuck into the main building of the bank. The cops should probably be here soon to help with the civilians. I can go inside if you and J.One deal with these guys.”

He can see Chan nod, can see his mouth moving to speak to Changbin before he hears him say “I.N, you sure you want to do this?” It sounds like his voice is coming from right next to his ear, and Jeongin wants to complain that it’s _too close_ , but he _can't_ , not really, since Chan can’t exactly _see_ where he’s sending the sound towards.

“Yeah,” he says, and five seconds later Chan claps. There’s a loud _pop_ , enough to makes the thieves hold their head, and Jeongin _bolts_.

He runs towards the glass doors that separate the main building from the ATMs right as Jisung turns into a falcon, goes transparent and rolls through the doors when he hears one of the thieves scream. WIth all the nose they’re making, Jeongin hopes that the fifth person hasn’t found a different door to leave through.

In the dark, it’s easy to see when there’s a light source, even _with_ his night vision. Quickly, Jeongin rips off the sleeve of his shirt, glad that it’s long but silently mourning the loss as he ties it around his mouth. He doesn’t have a mask, not right now, so it’s the best he can do.

In the room, Jeongin can hear a soft “fuck, shit, fuck. Open up, would you, you stupid lock?”

“Now that’s not nice.” The person turns around, but Jeongin’s already behind of them. He immediately covers their eyes, pushing them against the wall and pulls down his impromptu mask, moving next to their ear. Jeongin takes a deep breath before shrieking, not loud enough to permanently damage the person but just enough to make the person pass out. Being a banshee has its perks, Jeongin has to admit.

Two minutes later, when Jeongin has his sleeve pulled back over his mouth, the lights turn back on and his phone buzzes in his pocket.

**_binnie:_ **

_the police are there_

_jisung and chan are dealing with it but like_

_you should leave_

_i’ll make sure that those two know where the person is_

_just make sure that you aren’t seen_

_i don’t want people to recognize you and put you in more trouble_

**_innie:_ **

_thanks_

_i will_

_can i come over?_

**_binnie:_ **

_you don’t need to ask_

_should i tell minho to leave_

**_innie:_ **

_no_

➴➷➴➷➴➷

Jeongin barely makes it into the building before he hears the sound of running, Changbin showing up at the bottom of the staircase, Minho right behind of him.

“Are you hurt?” Changbin asks quickly, moving so that he’s inspecting Jeongin. His fingers linger on Jeongin’s missing sleeve, his eyes moving towards where it’s tied around Jeongin’s neck before he looks back up to make eye contact. “Are you okay?” Changbin asks softly, and Jeongin lets himself sag forward, head on Changbin’s shoulder and arms wrapped around his waist, giving him a rare hug.

“I’m not hurt,” he whispers, “just tired. I didn’t expect to have a gun pointed at me again, Binnie.”

Jeongin can feel Changbin maneuvering him towards the stairs, and looks up to see Minho. “It’s fancy seeing you here.” Jeongin tries to smile, and all he gets in response is a pat on his head.

“I’m going to go to Felix to get some things, since Jeongin’s here safely. I’ll be back in half an hour, an hour max, okay?” He says this to Changbin, but he glances at Jeongin often enough that he feels like he’s also being asked.

Changbin waves in a dismissive gesture, and Jeongin detaches himself from him. “You ask that like I have a choice in what you do. Bring back something for us to eat, though?”

Minho slips out the door with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and a small wave of his hand. Jeongin wonders if someone should’ve gone with him.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

Contrary to what Jeongin thought after his first time coming to the boba shop, he ends up coming again at a time when he _knows_ Minho has class, and he startles the person behind the counter so badly that they almost drop a plate.

“Hello,” they say, maybe a _bit_ too loud, “what can I get for you?”

Jeongin wonders if he should just leave and come back another time, since there doesn’t seem to be anyone else on the shop other than himself and the person at the counter. Then, a cat jumps onto the counter, and Jeongin says “actually, could you get Felix out here?”

“How do you know if Felix is here or not?” The person raises an eyebrow, and nods when Jeongin points at the cat. “Fair point. Those cats always seem to show up whenever he’s around.” The person turns around, leaning over to bang on the door behind of them. “Felix! You’ve got a visitor!”

“I do?” Felix’s head pokes out, and he smiles when he sees Jeongin. “Oh, okay. Gimme a sec. Eric,” he looks at the person behind the counter, “make us some drinks, please?”

Eric shrugs. “Dude, that’s literally my job. No need to _ask_ me to do it.”

“It’s called being polite, maybe you should try it.” He turns to Jeongin “Ignore him if he says anything mean,” Felix says before he leaves, door falling shut behind of him.

Jeongin sees Eric roll his eyes, but otherwise doesn’t react. “So,” he starts off, looking up at Jeongin with a raised eyebrow, “how do you know Felix?”

Jeongin shrugs. “A friend brought me here and introduced us.”

Eric hums, but says nothing. There isn’t much more he can say, and Eric doesn’t press anything further, focusing on making the drinks that Felix requested.

It’s how Felix finds them two minutes later, Jeongin having moved so that he’s sitting at a table, drinks almost ready but not quite. He watches as Felix says something quietly to Eric, puts caps on the cups and grabs two straws, turning to move to where Jeongin is.

“You wanted to see me?” Felix asks, sitting down, a cat jumping onto his lap when he’s fully seated.

“Yeah,” Jeongin nods, “I was wondering if you could help me understand a few things? Like, what did Minho mean when he said only supernatural people can find this place?”

The thing is, Jeongin doesn’t know Minho well enough to know when he’s lying or not. He isn't Jisung or Hyunjin or Seungmin, who spend more time with Minho than Jeongin does. He isn’t Changbin, who’s known Minho for almost as long as he’s known Jisung and Chan, who’s known Minho for longer than he’s known _Jeongin_. He’s not close enough to Minho to be able to tell when he’s lying or not, if Minho’s kidding or not.

So, Jeongin figured, might as well ask Felix.

“I’m a witch,” Felix leans back, taking a sip of his drink. “All of my relatives are, actually. When my grandparents opened the shop, they made it so that humans couldn’t find it, lest they find out about our magic and do bad things to us, which is _exactly_ why I call bullshit on anything and everything Minho says about how he found this place.” Felix rolls his eyes. “I _swear_ he’s at _least_ a quarter fae—not only does he give off the vibes, but how else can he talk to animals?”

Jeongin frowns. “If Minho is a fae, or a fairy, or _anything,_ do you think there’s a chance that he just doesn’t know?”

“ _Please_ ,” Felix waves a dismissive hand, “there’s a reason why people call him an informer, you know? He always knows a lot more than he lets on most of the time, especially since I’m pretty sure he can understand other languages, too, going off the idea that he’s a fae, so he can get a _lot_ more information than anyone else can.”

“Oh,” the more Jeongin thinks about it, the more it makes sense. Minho knew that he was I.N, said that Changbin thought that it was a good idea bringing it up to him. Minho and Changbin have known each other for a while, and Minho was _there_ when Jeongin last went over to Changbin’s place. “I think I need to talk to Minho.”

Felix doesn’t look surprised by this revelation, but he _does_ look like he has more to say. “Be careful with Minho,” is all he ends up saying. “He acts tough, but he really isn’t. And Jeongin?”

“Yeah?”

Jeongin doesn’t realize that he hasn’t seen Felix’s smile up close until he _does_ , sees the way his face softens, the sharpness of his face looking kinder than before. “Next time you come, don’t let it be for business. You need to relax once in a while too, you know?”

He doesn’t know how to respond so he doesn’t. He thinks he hears Eric asking about him, but he doesn’t bother sticking around long enough to hear what he says.

➴➷➴➷➴➷

Jeongin doesn’t end up going to Minho after that.

Woojin looks surprised when he shows up outside his apartment, immediately pulls him into a hug, going a spiel about how it’s been so long— _too_ long—since he’s last seen Jeongin. He scolds him for being away for so long, scolds him for not even _texting_ throughout the past month or so. Jeongin didn’t even realize that that much time had passed until Woojin pointed it out.

They’re on the couch when Woojin puts a hand on Jeongin’s forearm, a frown gracing his face. “Chan told me you got injured a while ago. Are you doing better now?”

There’s no proper way to answer it, no way to give the full truth without revealing what Woojin doesn’t know, so Jeongin says “yeah, I am,” ignoring the way his chest hurts when the words are spoken. Woojin doesn’t know about I.N, doesn’t know that Jeongin isn’t just Chan’s younger friend that gets coddled a lot.

Still, he doesn’t look like he particularly _believes_ Jeongin, either, which is why it comes as a blessing when Chan comes in a couple of minutes later, comes in to Jeongin telling Woojin about the argument that Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Minho had a while ago because he didn’t want to stay in silence, even though he knows that Woojin has no idea who these people are.

Chan’s entrance seems like an unspoken agreement, Woojin leaning in to ruffle the top of Jeongin’s head before making his way towards the door. He gives Chan a look that Jeongin can’t distinguish before he leaves, and Chan does nothing but nod in response.

“So,” Chan starts when Woojin’s out the door, “what brings you here?”

Jeongin shrugs. “I haven’t seen you since the fight. I wanted to make sure you were okay, you know? Besides,” Jeongin smiles, “do I need a reason to visit?”

Chan walks over, lets himself fall onto the couch next to Jeongin before wrapping him into a hug. He doesn’t say anything for a few moments, and when he _does_ it’s a quiet “no, of course you don’t.”

➴➷➴➷➴➷

**_“lovely” minho:_ **

_The_City_Hero.docx_

➴➷➴➷➴➷

**The City’s Hero, I.N: A Theory, an Explanation, a Hope**

**By Lee Minho**

Our city, no matter whether we realize it or not, has come to depend on “heroes,” has placed a dependency on said heroes, and has a tendency to blame them when anything and everything goes wrong. Everyone who lives in this town knows of these heroes, have heard snippets about the way CB97 and J.One stopped a recent crime, about how I.N can be heard for miles when fighting someone with on-par abilities. Behind the scenes there’s SpearB, who we all know of, yet very few have ever seen. These heroes are who we all place our trust in, who we look up to in the darkest of times and rely on to fix our problems.

We idolize these heroes, place them on a pedestal above us, but should we? As much as we take comfort in having these heroes in our life, a lot of people tend to forget that they are _people_. A person made the active decision to place their life on the line to protect us, to make sure that we are alright, that we are _safe_. We tend to forget this.

Recently, a lot of people have been upset at the hiatus of one of our city’s heroes, the loud I.N, who decided to take a break from hero work a couple of weeks ago. There has been a lot of messages displayed everywhere, from in classrooms to all over social media, about how I.N has resigned. People are saying that the hero cannot deal with this anymore, does not _want_ to deal with fighting crime anymore.

For those of you reading this, I implore you to take a moment and think. What kind of person does not need a rest after getting shot? What kind of person _expects_ someone to refuse recovery in favor of injuring themselves more? What if I.N is young? What if I.N is a student, whether it be college or high school, and cannot keep attending due to various injuries sustained over the course of time? What if, rather than being some immortal being, I.N is a person, just like us?

To add some context for the people who have not heard: while stopping similarly super-powered individuals during a recent political rally held nearby, hero J.One was dealt minor injuries to their arms, but hero I.N was not so lucky. At some point during the attack, it is speculated to be towards the middle—while CB97, whose injuries are unknown, fought multiple villains on the main stage—hero I.N was shot in the stomach, and an unnamed individual who is frequently seen helping these three carried them away.

Following this event, a public statement by CB97 was released a week and a half later which stated that I.N would be taking a break from hero work, and their hiatus would be indefinite. Many people, however, seem to be outraged by this. Though I.N is not obligated to do anything for us, it is a common belief that the heroes who help us must continue to help us for as long as possible.

Truthfully, heroes do not owe anyone anything. They already risk their lives for us without preamble, the least we can do is respect their wishes when they want to take a break—or even stop. It is not up to us to decide what these people do, and we do not know all the information needed to form an actual opinion. These people have their own lives outside of the city, no matter how much we refuse to admit it.

Do I know if I.N will come back? No, I do not. Do I hope that they will? Of course I do. They have become a symbol, alongside their coworkers, for this city, for the people who live here. I believe that, though I.N is not at the forefront right now, is not constantly exposed to the city in a way that they used to be, they are still out there helping behind the scenes, and I hope that one day we will be able to see them again, if only to make sure that they are okay. I.N did not say that they would be gone forever, but that they “most likely” will not be coming back. While, ultimately, it is I.N’s decision to make, the most that we, as the residents of this city, can do is be happy and respectful with the decision that I.N decides to make in the end.

_-Lee Minho, editor of the college newspaper._

➴➷➴➷➴➷

Jeongin’s not meant to be a hero. Not yet, anyways.

He’s a college student, just barely getting by. He’s still dealing with some things, still overcoming insecurities that would do nothing but put himself in danger if he was still on the field. Chan’s been helping him, has been making sure that he’s doing okay, eating all his meals and sleeping enough. Jimin’s also a big help, making sure that his would is all healed properly, still checking up on him even _after_ the only thing left is a scar.

One day, maybe, Jeongin could go back to being a hero—an official one, that is. According to Jisung, Jeongin never _stopped_ being a hero. _The day at the bank proved it,_ Jisung would say. _It doesn’t matter if you have a costume or a name, the only thing that matters is your passion. Even if it’s not right for you to be putting yourself in danger, you won’t just stop being a hero. I don’t think it’s even possible, for someone like you. You’re too kindhearted, too admirable._

Minho seems to agree with him, too, which is surprising, but also _not._ Minho’s proven himself to be a very unpredictable person, with the knowledge that he both hates heroes (“vigilantes!” Minho shrieks from across of Jeongin, a smile painted across his face, laughter falling from his lips. “The whole lot of you!” Felix, from behind the counter, rolls his eyes, and Jeongin can’t stop the smile from forming on his face) and also helps them, the knowledge that _Minho_ is Changbin’s informat buddy.

(Minho doesn’t know that Jeongin’s figured it out, and neither does Changbin. Jeongin lets himself revel in the knowledge before resolving to not let either of them know. After all, it’s not like Minho has any qualms against calling Jeongin out, and the moment he figures this out won’t be an exception.)

(“You’re being ridiculous,” Minho tells Jeongin, one day, when Jeongin asks if he really hates heroes. He rolls his eyes, but he still doesn’t deny it. One day, Jeongin’s going to get him to answer, is going to get him to give Jeongin a truthful answer.

He doesn’t get the chance to that day, because before Jeongin knows it Hyunjin’s blowing up his phone, their messages ranging from calm to frantic. Seungmin’s a bit calmer, and Jisung’s a mess, and Minho’s looking at the group chat that the five of them are in with exasperation written across his face. When he looks up at Jeongin, though, there’s a smile on his face, only falling when Felix throws a wet towel at him and Changbin has to stop him from jumping the counter.)

➴➷➴➷➴➷

**_“lovely” minho:_ **

_is this good?_

**_banshee boy:_ **

_maybe try making a bit less passive_ _aggressive_

_but it has my stamp of approval_

_all you need to do is get it past seungmin and hyunjin and you’ll be good lmao_

**_“lovely” minho:_ **

_i don’t care about them_

_as long as you think it’s good to go then it’s good to go_

➴➷➴➷➴➷

Time isn’t going to stop, isn’t going to go back. It’s always running forward, chasing everyone as it goes.

Maybe, Jeongin thinks, he shouldn’t be worrying about the time. There’s no reason to rush his decision about this, no reason to panic, to have fear drive him into making an answer. Maybe, a month or so ago, Jeongin would’ve thought differently, would’ve thought that he needed to make a decision as quickly as possible.

It’s as clear as when day turns to night, as clear as the glasses that Jeongin wears everyday, Jeongin doesn’t need to make his decision right now, and that’s okay.

**Author's Note:**

> This took me almost two whole months to write? But it was fun and it's kinda bad but it's my baby so I love it. Also, I didn't expect Minho to be such an important character lmao. Thought it'd mainly be Jeongin and 3racha but i was wrong. 
> 
> Also!!! if any of the superpowers are confusing please comment because I... didn't really think about writing this for anyone but myself lmao so it might get confusing
> 
> (I didn't have a proper title so I'm using the wip one asdfghjkl sorry)
> 
> twitter(that i still don't know how to link rip): @idkdenxero


End file.
